In Spare, Prince Harry wrote about how Meghan’s last year on Suits was unpleasant because “the palace” kept calling up the producers and writers and vetting and vetoing storylines, dialogue and what have you. If I’m being honest, I mostly blame Meghan and Harry for that sh-t – Harry should have shut that down with the palace staff and said “are you f–king nuts, you can’t do that, you can’t make demands on an American TV show.” Meghan should have done the same – that was a huge red flag and the palace really crossed a professional boundary. But they were in love and eager to please, so they didn’t enforce that boundary. Well, Suits creator and writer Aaron Korsh has a gossipy piece in the Hollywood Reporter about the Summer of Suits – everyone’s watching it, everyone loves it and everyone loves the cast, especially Meghan. Some highlights from this THR piece:
Korsh believes that “Meghan Markle intrigue” fueled interest in the show, and he remembers when the news came out about Meghan and Harry dating: “Oh, I was as excited in some ways as everybody else… I mean, your initial reaction is, like, “We’re dating a prince!” (Laughs.) But the security and all that stuff, we shot in Toronto and the writers room was in L.A., so other people were dealing with that. I will say, and I think Harry put this in the book, because I heard people talking about it — [the royal family] weighed in on some stuff. Not many things, by the way, but a few things that we wanted to do and couldn’t do, and it was a little irritating.
What changes the Windsors wanted: “I remember one was a particular line of dialogue and, look, I’ll just say what the line was. My wife’s family, when they have a topic to discuss that might be sensitive, they use the word, “poppycock.” Let’s say you wanted to do something that you knew your husband didn’t want to do, but you wanted to at least discuss it, and in just discussing it, you wouldn’t hold him to anything he said, you’d be like, “It’s poppycock.” So, in the episode, Mike and Rachel [Markle’s character] were going to have a thing, and as a nod to my in-laws, we were going to have her say, “My family would say poppycock.” And the royal family did not want her saying the word. They didn’t want to put the word “poppycock” in her mouth. I presume because they didn’t want people cutting things together of her saying “cock.” So, we had to change it to “bullsh-t” instead of “poppycock,” and I did not like it because I’d told my in-laws that [poppycock] was going to be in the show. There was maybe one or two more things, but I can’t remember.
How was the royal family getting or reading scripts? “I don’t know how they got ’em. I was aware that they were reading them because I got the feedback, but I don’t remember the process by which they got them.
Whether Meghan told him that she wouldn’t or couldn’t say certain things: “No, Meghan did not call me. I can’t remember. It might have been the directing producer at the time, or her agent. Whoever it was, they didn’t like having to tell me any more than I liked having to hear it. But listen, when they explained it that way, and I’m pretty sure it got explained to me that it was about that [splicing potential], I had some sympathy because I wouldn’t want somebody doing that to her either. And the thing is, I didn’t think anybody really would, but also I don’t know. People are crazy.
If anything, he’s being too generous towards the palace. They were trying to exert control over Meghan and her career just because they were drunk with power. They did it because they could, because they loved the idea of micromanaging this woman before she even had a ring on her finger. I’ve said this many times, but I don’t know how the hell Meghan managed to navigate this bullsh-t, especially in the early years. Knowing what we know now, about how they were going out of their way to ruin M&H’s relationship and engagement, it feels like this kind of micromanaging was designed to actually scare the sh-t out of Meghan and get her to pull the ripcord on the relationship. And honestly, she would have been well within her rights. They were also, as I said, testing her boundaries and seeing what they could get away with.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, NBC/USA/Suits.
Meghan Markle attends the NBCUniversal New York Summer Press Day on June 24, 2015 at the Four Seasons Hotel in New York City, New York, USA.,Image: 524926184, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Photoshot – sales@photoshot.com London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Florida: +1 239 689 1883 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: Robin Platzer/Twin Images / Twin Images / Avalon 
cast of Suits, Gabriel Macht, Sarah Rafferty, Rick Hoffman and Meghan Markle and attend the NBCUniversal New York Summer Press Day on June 24, 2015 at the Four Seasons Hotel in New York City, New York, USA.,Image: 524926353, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Photoshot – sales@photoshot.com London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Florida: +1 239 689 1883 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: Robin Platzer/Twin Images / Twin Images / Avalon 
cast of Suits, Sarah Rafferty and Meghan Markle and attend the NBCUniversal New York Summer Press Day on June 24, 2015 at the Four Seasons Hotel in New York City, New York, USA.,Image: 524926563, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Photoshot – sales@photoshot.com London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Florida: +1 239 689 1883 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: Robin Platzer/Twin Images / Twin Images / Avalon
Meghan Markle at the NBC-Universal 2014 TCA Winter Press Tour, Langham Huntington Hotel and Spa, Pasadena, CA 01-19-14,Image: 551006412, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Photoshot – sales@photoshot.com London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Florida: +1 239 689 1883 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: Martin Sloan / Avalon 
Meghan Markle at the NBC-Universal 2014 TCA Winter Press Tour, Langham Huntington Hotel and Spa, Pasadena, CA 01-19-14,Image: 551006415, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Photoshot – sales@photoshot.com London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Florida: +1 239 689 1883 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: Martin Sloan / Avalon 
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7pLHLnpmirJOdxm%2BvzqZmcWtjZn50e9KuoK2rj5i%2Fpq3TqKmYrJiarLi1zZ2qqKqjlMSiutOem5illZy1orrSmKeoqKCusLCvypijoqaVlLCprc2gnJ1n